PrecisionPoint Connect for Dynamics AX 2012 reports

“Finance departments expect the ‘correct answer’ from their ERP data, so a Reporting or BI system must meet the same expectations

PrecisionPoint Connect is an out-of-the-box solution for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 reports It is designed for the business user and greatly enhances the close-to-report cycle and general reporting & analysis experience of AX2012®.

The solution comprises an integrated financial data warehouse back-end (automatically reconciled to GL) as well as a number of front-end options for report & KPI design, information access, and information delivery. A powerful Excel add-in allows business users to create highly-specified reports in Excel and distribute these via either Excel, web, email or dashboard.

The PrecisionPoint Connect data warehouse runs a rapid automated process which evaluates the existing structures in the Microsoft Dynamics AX2012® system and creates database structures appropriate for analytics. Data is extracted from Microsoft Dynamics AX2012® and PrecisionPoint restructures and optimizes the data by joining ledgers together to create a complete and balanced analytic business warehouse. Those Dynamics AX 2012 reports are therefore optimised to provide insight not available in the ERP alone.

PrecisionPoint Connect supports multi-company, multi-currency implementations and offers a fully GAAP compliant solution that will deliver results on a daily basis as opposed to the monthly schedule offered by Dynamics. Availabilty of consolidated information in PrecisionPoint Connect goes well beyond the Trial Balance level offered by standard Dynamics and encompasses all of the data from the sub-ledgers, so for example reports showing product sales information at a detail level in a common currency are easily retrieved, together with the full audit trail.

This approach means that PrecisionPoint does not allow itself to be restricted by the modular or tabular structures of the underlying ERP system. Instead, it provides a single environment where information is integrated and the underlying transactional information (along with all its associated analysis information) is always maintained at the appropriate level of detail, irrespective of its source within Microsoft Dynamics AX2012.

As a result, it is possible to move from one area of analysis to another, crossing ledger boundaries seamlessly; to perform analysis, information exploration and reporting of unprecedented breadth and depth; to drill up, down and across information which is organised logically and intuitively.

The data warehouse can be accessed via table or cube. If desired, an organization can define restricted or selective views of the cube information so that individual users or groups of users only access the information they are allowed to or need to see. This is managed by the organization using the in-built security in Microsoft SQL Server® Analysis Services.

PrecisionPoint is self-maintaining and will automatically be refreshed overnight, or on-demand at an interval of choice. It is also adaptive which means it will identify and reflect changes made in the underlying M
icrosoft Dynamics AX2012 system, such as Chart of Account or Dimension structure changes.

The product is delivered with a number of configured Excel report templates and the data warehouse can be customised to incorporate and integrate additional data from outside of AX into the same singular data structure.

PrecisionPoint’s managed service offers both technical and business users on-hand expertise and advice with day-to-day BI and reporting challenges, helping you get the best value out of the product.

Company Profile

Founded in 2002, PrecisionPoint has created technology that is redefining the way that BI is delivered to companies using Dynamics as their ERP.

PrecisionPoint monitor every system they install and guarantee that the BI database is always in lock step with the ERP, so it can be relied upon to deliver consistently accurate results.

PrecisionPoint deliver their software as an on-premise managed service and are the only BI company to accept responsibility on an on-going basis for the integrity and accuracy of the BI database.

PrecisionPoint can automate every aspect of the ‘Close to Report’ cycle and achieve massive reductions in the time to close – see the NTT case study on our web site

With dual operational centres in the USA and UK, PrecisionPoint has customers in more than 30 countries.